


Some Coffee and Free Jokes

by lonesomewriter



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, barista!Haru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-25 14:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16662763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonesomewriter/pseuds/lonesomewriter
Summary: Had Haru remembered Rin had put up a sign telling people they would get a free joke if they bought coffee from the little campus café they both worked at, he would’ve been more prepared for the handsome customer with the brightest smile asking him for one. But lucky for Haru, he somehow ended up charming the customer without saying much anything.





	Some Coffee and Free Jokes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first piece for the 2018 Makoharu Flash Bang!!
> 
> Kurumai did the amazing artwork for this, go check them out [here](http://kurumaicolor.tumblr.com/post/180499522397/hi-everyone-i-present-to-you-the-artwork-in-two)!!!
> 
> You can find her tumblr [here](http://kurumaicolor.tumblr.com/)

“Man, you look like shit,” Rin smirked as Haru slouched through the staff door of the small campus café they had both been working in for the past two semesters.  
  
Haru didn’t bother answering, knowing full well Rin didn’t expect that from him anyways. He just threw a glare at his best friend, hoping that he would take the hint and leave him alone for the rest of his shift. The shit eating grin that spread to Rin’s face told Haru he would do no such thing. While Haru loved his friend dearly, he preferred him in small portions.  
  
“Oh look who’s grumpy now,” Rin laughed and ruffled Haru’s hair, seemingly gaining his energy from seeing his friend in a foul mood. “What’s gotten to you?”  
  
Haru flipped his friend off and quickly put his apron on, walking behind the counter to release  Rei from his shift. He ignored Rin as he started preparing himself the strongest espresso possible, hoping for it to wake him up enough to pull through the day.  
  
“You’re no fun, Haru,” Rin muttered, but didn’t look insulted for being ignored.  
  
Rin was just about to open his mouth to say something, probably about how amazing Sousuke was, but was interrupted by the bell chiming and a customer walking in. Haru would have smirked at his friend if he hadn’t been so tired, but as he turned to the counter, he found Rin gone.  
  
_That bastard_ , he thought and sighed loudly before throwing his most murderous look at the guy that had just stepped inside, and was currently staring at the list of coffees above him. Haru noticed he was quite tall, brown haired student he’d seen around the campus before, although he wasn’t sure they shared any classes together.  
  
The boy fidgeted by the counter, and Haru would’ve groaned aloud if he had had the energy. Why couldn’t the guy just order and leave? And where the hell had Rin disappeared to? Haru had never been good at handling the customer service side, and so Rin had almost always done the talking for him.  
  
“Hey,” the boy finally said, and Haru nodded at him. He knew he was supposed to show more enthusiasm towards the customers, but he found himself way too tired to even bother trying.  
  
“Uhm,” the man looked slightly taken aback by Haru’s muteness, but to the dark haired boy’s gratitude, he didn’t comment on it. “I would have a vanilla latte.”  
  
Haru nodded and turned to prepare the coffee. He felt the man’s gaze burn at the back of his neck, and wasn’t surprised to find him staring when he turned to hand over the sugary monstrosity.  
  
“Three dollars,” Haru said and took the payment, thinking the man would just take the coffee and leave. But as he turned away and heard a cough from behind, he realised he was still standing behind him.  
  
“Did you need something else?” Haru asked, not liking the way the man wouldn’t just say what he wanted. The man looked suddenly embarrassed, and Haru wondered if he’d messed up the order or something.  
  
“Uhm, the sign outside said that you, uhm,” the man blushed heavily now, and Haru felt his body freeze in shock. If Rin had put some stupid ass sign at the doorway again he swore to himself he would strangle the man with his own two hands.  
  
“I - I should get a free joke?” the man managed to say, and Haru’s soul left his body. Now he remembered Rin mentioning something about the new trick of luring people in, and how he hadn’t been paying enough attention to notice they were supposed to be telling _jokes_ here now. What a brilliant idea it had been, to offer a free joke to anyone who ordered a coffee.  
  
No way in seven hells could he come up with anything when his sleep deprived brain could barely manage to stay up at this point.  
“Uhm,” the man said quietly, shifting awkwardly from one foot to other before seeming to understand he wouldn’t be getting anything from the barista. He tensed slightly before relaxing, and flashing Haru the most breathtaking smile he had ever had the honor of witnessing. Haru felt himself flush from head to toe under the ray that was the man in front of him, but before he had enough time to process what was happening, the man had continued and was walking out of the shop.  
  
“I guess I’ll just have to come back tomorrow to collect my joke,” he said, tilting his head slightly to the left before waving Haru goodbye and leaving the shop.  
  
Haru stood frozen by the counter, his heart suddenly beating and hands shaking. He distantly heard the door behind him open and close as Rin stepped back to the room, but Haru found himself staring at the spot the man had just been standing in, trying to figure out what had just happened.  
  
*  
  
The brown haired man was true to his words, and came back the next day. Haru was no better prepared this time, although Rin had been so kind as to show him where they kept the joke book in case the man did return.  
  
Haru had taken one glance at the wretched book before deciding there was no way he could use it. He felt a little stupid, but he really wanted to make the man laugh, and he highly doubted ‘The Thousand Very Best Jokes of 2001’ was gonna amaze him.  
  
He had tried to bribe Rin into telling the joke in his stead, but the red-haired devil had laughed him off, saying that he wanted to see Haru cracking a joke as much as the other guy.  
  
And so he stood there, staring at the man walking in. He was wearing the same jacket and scarf as yesterday, and Haru blushed slightly for remembering such details.  
  
The man leaned against the counter, locked eyes with Haru and dared to _smile_ . “I would take one vanilla latte, thank you.”  
  
Haru nodded, turning quickly to hide the slight blush on his cheeks. He was certain he was becoming sick, for there was no way he normally blushed this much.  
  
He stole a glance at the man while the coffee was brewing. He was checking his phone,  looking illegally handsome leaning against the dark counter. Haru felt his heart jump to his throat when the man suddenly looked up and found him staring. But instead of frowning, he smiled widely at Haru, who felt too embarrassed to do anything but return to look at the coffee in front of him.  
  
“Here,” Haru said and pushed the latte to the man’s hand, not looking at him as he wished he would forget the stupid joke thing.  
  
Of course, he wasn’t so lucky. “Uhm, I think you owe me two jokes now?”  
  
Haru threw a murderous glare at the man, but it lost most of its bite when he saw the grin on the man’s face.  
  
“I don’t do jokes,” Haru decided to tell the man the truth. “I can go get Rin for you if you want it that much. That guy’s the real joke here.”  
  
To Haru’s surprise, the man bursted out laughing at his words. Haru blinked, wondering what he’d said to make the man laugh.  
  
“And you say you don’t joke?” the man managed to say after his laughter began to die. “God, you’re adorable.”  
  
Haru froze to the spot. He felt his cheeks heat up as he realised the man had called him  
_adorable_ . He carefully met the guy’s eyes, and almost smiled when he saw how red and flustered the man looked like.  
  
“You’re one to say,” Haru whispered, feeling giddy all of a sudden.  
  
“Uh, would it be weird to ask you out now?” the man said, and Haru couldn’t stop himself from grinning now. He quickly covered his face by tilting his head down, but by the way the man’s face lit up the smile hadn’t gone unnoticed.  
  
“I don’t even know your name,” Haru said, and instantly slapped himself mentally. _What was he saying?_  
  
“Makoto,” the man, Makoto, said and offered Haru his hand. They shook hands, and Haru felt ridiculous by the formality of it all.  
  
“Are you free after your shift?”  
  
“I’m always free,” Haru blurted, and Makoto laughed again. It was a refreshing sound, and Haru felt his insides melt when he looked at him.  
  
“We’ll see then!” Makoto said and began walking away. Haru stared at him in awe, wondering if he was still asleep and dreaming this all. Makoto turned to look at him and stopped just before the door, a devilish grin splitting across his face.  
  
“Oh, and by the way, you still owe me those jokes.”  
  
Haru groaned as the man slipped through the door, but the butterflies in his stomach told him he really didn’t mind at all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!
> 
> I have a tumblr, you can find it [here](https://lonesome-writer.tumblr.com/)


End file.
